This is the same guy who bashes the skins (despite looking and being amazing) simply for the fact they don’t fit champions’ lore. It’s literally the point of skins to give ALTERNATIVE look or spin to a character - it doesn’t have to fit the champions’ lore or background to work, otherwise it would be really boring. Especially when skin lines have their own universes, so for example, where Aatrox is evil in the official universe, he could be good in other universe.
@@gandalfhanhe doesn’t do that though. He bashes skins for not fitting the universe they’re set in or the theme they’re going for or not fitting with the character’s animations or just being poorly executed
@@elainasynranelt I’m talking about the skins that look amazing etc. not the bad ones since they do deserve criticism. Go into his other videos and he will literally criticise the skin for simply not fitting champions’ lore and call them bad lol
If I were one of riot's artists I would be so honored to have my work seen and recognized in this way...I'm an illustrator so I know how much time and effort we put into composition, color theory and details that disappear in the eyes of the hasty viewer, so to have them analyzed in such a passionate way makes my little heart so so happy! I really hope that the artists see your videos :)
I wonder if these artist have imposter sydrome as well. Like at one point can't you really watch your piece and say: Fuck man i am so much better than the rest
@@simonzhang3DUsually these artists aren’t that arrogant since arrogance blinds your judgement and thus are less likely to get to a high level. You have to be humble and realize your flaws in order to get good.
Something I found particularly scary about gangplank’s splash art was how from a distance it looks like he’s focusing on the orange in his hand, but when you zoom in, you realize that he’s looking at you
I had to zoom in on it just to see that and about had a heartattack. Doesn't help that I'm actually seeing this for the first time and it is night and very much dark in my room. Wow is that an amazing detail.
Your Heimerdinger voice is uncannily good, wow. And it really helped sell the image even more. 🎃 I'd love to see texture breakdowns and nerding out too! Also, DEFINITELY Runeterra!
Your ability to make art analysis *fun" and so personally engaging is incredible; you pull the perfect adjectives for every context and subject so well that the script itself is poetry. It is so far removed from the painful forced depth I felt from high school that I can finally enjoy deep dives into illustrations again.
TF and Eve splash also reminds me of Ms. Mr. Smith, the spy couple movie who tries to kill each other and sparks again the "sexual tension" they had for one another. To me that splash art shows more than tension, shows fun, they like that dynamic and they're going all out with it. I know Eve quite literally could feed herself with said tension, but you can see her smile looking at TF who looks serious towards her, but leans into her, leans into her dance. Also pretty sure Tobias is Bi, so, it's a possible outcome, we have no idea about the story of this skin line. And Tango is naturally hot ASF.
19:07 The short performance of Dragon Trainer Heimerdinger was on point and very cute. You nailed the character I was imagining and made my heart melt. ❤ And here's a small Jack-o'-lantern 🎃
I came to comments looking for this, because I was gonna say something if no one else did. I couldn’t tell if it was a character voiceline from the game or not!
Me: _furiously clicks on another top 10 when it shows up in feed_ Skyen: do we want more of these? Me: YES. YES. A THOUSAND TIMES, YES. I cannot stress enough how much I enjoy listening to your narrations and breakdowns of art pieces. I’m an amateur artist at best, and watching these videos of your criticisms and compositional breakdowns not only gives me an idea of how certain aspects of art (especially light!) should be used, it also tends to get me in the mood to draw again. So not only do I thank you for that, I appreciate you, and, if I have to, will get on my knees to shamelessly beg for more of these videos.
On Nilah I also want to appreciate the fine brush stokes in the background (most visible in the closeup of the orb) and detailed water dropplets on her skin. This is not just an action pose, this is the moment after she strikes, or perhaps even when she draws her weapon. It's not raining, the water of the environment was knocked up by something powerful and is showering down, and it appears to have been done by Nilah. That and the glow of her earrings, jewlery, and facial expression make it feel like I'm baring witness to this glorious figure in her complete element.
With regards to the Captain Gangplank splash art, the perfect symmetry with the guns flanking either side and the stairs centred behind him gives off a royalty feeling, like the Royal Guard standing to the side of their King, which Gangplank in this splash is. He is the King of Bilgewater, but instead of noble knights and guards, it’s cannons and shipwright. None stand in his way for he commands these guns, he commands this vessel, he commands these seas, he commands it all.
That is also wonderfully observed and stated. That part of the GP analysis conveyed the desperate nature of the situation for the captured person. "Only he has the power to act." Oh man that was so dope!
I must say that, out of all the music and dance styles that exists, Tango was such a perfect choice for Evelynn and TF. Adding up to all the constant tension of "they are just waiting for the perfect moment. The window for the kill" if you watch two Tango dancers you can almost feel the same tension due to the way of how they move on each other. Let's add up how dance partners always look like both of them are in control on every situation or are fighting for it. But always in balance. (This does not only apply to Tango, but It's easy to see there) Slap "Por una cabeza" and boom, there you have it.
beautifully written & analysed! on a much less prosaic level, i also appreciate how this extends a certain canon about Twisted Fate's 'dances with devils'! From cheating Tahm Kench, to tangoing with Evelynn... which immortal manifestation of human weakness will he tangle with next, just to show those demons that humans can still have the upper hand?
@@-.jai.- Hm yeah duh, what I meant is that they could have chosen any other dance style for this (and because of it, change their clothes duh) and miss all this marks
As someone who plays more LoR than LoL these days, I’d love to see you go over some of the card arts they’ve gotten. I think a lot of them are quite stunning, recent favorites being spirit blossom Kindred for being super pretty and base Seraphine for painting her in a new and more grounded light 🎃
The Heimerdinger splash made me tear up for some reason, it really conveys the paternal nurture and care so well. I really hope you continue this series, and I particularly love the narrative analysis, you have the perfect voice for it! 🎃🎃
🎃I think one of the more interesting things about the Gangplank splash is also *his* *eyes* ! When you first take a look at it, you either see one of two looks: 1) He's looking down AT the orange, in an almost darkly playful disregard of you Or 2) He's looking AT YOU, like he's about to enjoy making your life a Living Nightmare and the orange is simply an example of what he's going to do to you! And the longer you look at it, the more the looks flip. (For me personally, it flips from him looking at the orange to you, back and forth, until all I see is him looking at us)
Oh man that first Elderwood Hecarim switch was great, I could see the beauty in the photoshopped version, maybe not the best but great, and THEN the animals came in, and a whole new dimension was added, great job of completely catching me off guard
🎃Tf and Evelyn are giving big "rival spies in a violence dance fight before a shoot out" energy. Love that for them. Ps. I prefer the narrative analysis
🎃 As a non-artist, hearing you geekout about the details of the splash art is wonderful. Every time you zoomed into the Nilah splash, I noticed more details about the water effects in the rendering which is just 😩👌 The additional story telling you add to each splash art is just delightful. I would love for you to go over some of the LOR (and maybe now TFT!) specific art as well, but that might warrant being in a separate video from the league splashes? I'm unsure about the best approach for that from the eyes of THE ALGORITHM TM.
I’m an artist who followed TB Skyen during his Sonic Mania intro analysis, but while the most LoL thing I experienced since was Arcane, and have 0 interest to plau LoL. Analyzing good art is still welcoming.
honestly nilah in general is wonderfully designed. her splash and model are great, her voice kicks so much ass, and the story is a nice thematic inversion of the 'deal with the devil' trope that feels very different, while still being just as potentially dramatic and unnerving.
I could listen to you do things like this for probably every skin splash art. The good, the bad, everything in between. It inspires me to think about artwork of all kinds in different ways and try to notice things that maybe I wouldn't have otherwise. Hope you end up doing another 10.
I think the best thing about Nilah’s splash art is also the action and movement in it, all the water flowing around her the water drops on her skin are very pretty to look at. One thing I think is also really well done is how the piece shows Nilah’s excitement by danger with the massive beast flying in the background crushing a ship in two is very interesting when compared to her smile and running almost care free like across the water in the middle of all the chaos.
This is off to an amazing start. Just from Elderwood Hecarim alone-the music, the way you described him, and of course the art-it made me tear up in awe. I felt and saw myself in the scene, as if my room has vanished and I was in the woodland, reaching out to the imposing form of the forest guardian.
I know there's painfuly many to go through, but I hope you do one of these for most beautiful LoR card arts? I'm sure the community would provide great examples.
I love the lingering! Especially the technical details cus it’s literally you narrating the image and that is storytelling in itself! Please more of these! :D 🎃
gods the way you talk about art is incredible it’s so distant from the cold clinical analysis of art theory classes i’ve taken, it’s so full of love for artistry
Another thing Iove about Captain Gangplank's art is how your perspective of him peeling an orange changes when you realize what's about to happen. He's doing it to intimidate you. He stares at you while slowly peeling the orange and you're staring at the orange thinking "Oh god that's about to be me." And it makes the fact that the orange is so supremely juicy and leeking everywhere kind of graphic. You start thinking about it in the context of your own body. It's going to be messy. And you'll just lose all of your "juices" as you're hanging there. He's going to skin you alive. Terrifying.
As an (game-)art- and design student I love love LOVE you interpreting these pictures. I'm honestly learning so much about composition, more than I learned at university. I need more of these videos, they are so inspiring ♥
I honestly didn't notice that each segment was longer! I think it was the perfect length, and yes whether it's you gushing over the textures or the narrative side of the skin - it's all interesting to hear! Please more of these >>🎃
ITS ALSO STILL HALLOWEEN IN MY HEART!! But seriously I absolutely love these listening to these!! As an art major it’s super cool seeing things I’ve learned come up while also listening to the lore and narrative of the picture itself!! It was super fun with the little edits you did this time really showing the difference small details can make!! I would adore seeing more! 🎃
Havent finished the video yet, but man I love these so much, I see videos breaking down videos, songs and animations but you rarely see videos about just appreciating the intricacies of art pieces. As an artist seeing something like this is super inspiring.
You know, you only makes the TF and Evelyn scene sound even more romantic. In this moment that feels outside of time, they are completely captivated, entranced, with one another. In a twisted way, in that moment they are each other’s entire world. And love and hate share a common point: obsession.
I love these splash break downs, they literally open my eyes and make me realize things I can do too to enhance my own artworks! Thanks for all Skyen ^^
Yes pls do make more of these and i really like the nerdy technical fabric analysis u do. Makes me realize jow much work and just craftsmanship takes to make these.
I cannot describe my adoration for the High Noon Thresh splash art in words that’ll do it justice. I don’t know how to describe it but the way the background is designed with the dust storm in motion and it blowing Thresh’s head I can vividly HEAR the image with the sounds of blowing dust through desert shrubs and the crackling of both worn-cactus limbs and the fire in Thresh’s head. I can FEEL the heat radiating from it and FEEL the dusty air against my skin. It’s an almost comforting feeling as someone who’s lived in the deserts of Arizona his entire life this feeling is familiar to me. You can find old remains of long-dead creature in the desert, remains of coyotes or barn owls typically. You can find small fire pits legitimately in the middle of nowhere that still smell like burnt wood and have stained the dirt around it black. Everything in this image is real to me, even Thresh’s design I like to believe is a reference to an old urban legend out where I live of a spirit of an ever-burning man, believed to be a lingering spirit of a Native American who protects sacred grounds in the mountains. Supposedly a floating, burning corpse will appear if the right conditions are met. Not too well versed in the myth but either way this skin and the splash art truly give me chills. What a fantastic design🧡
Honestly im gonna start taking notes on these cuz i love the amount of details that you squeeze out of the splash arts and how much i can learn from them. How many decisions i make without being aware of them when i draw and how many i will have to change into doing them consciously to better myself as an artist.
Just stumbled across your channel from your linked shorts page and I can already say within the first 5 minutes I really can feel your passion for art in the way you talk. Love this!
🎃Please make more of these videos, it's really cool to see someone talk about all the details and the techniques used in these splashes that I've never noticed before. I have a whole new level of appreciation for splash art and the stories they tell, thanks to you talking about them
Wow man this is my first video of yours that i've viewed. Man, this was moving. Your voicework, and word choice, and analysis. I have been looking for a course on visual storytelling, and this video provided the kind of info i'm looking for. The descriptions of the courses I looked at so far didn't seem that they were going to give this kind of information. This was a wonderful experience, like as if spent an hour at the theater. I would watch another video like this.
Honestly, I love these videos. I'm norribly incompetent as an artist, but I love art analysis (given that my wife is a talented character artist, and I'm a huge fan of both her work and of character design in general). I *absolutely loved* your talk on High Noon Thresh, as my main interest is in capturing character and story. But I really like your noodly talk on the technical side of the art too; I'll never be able to replicate it, but I very much appreciate the kind of mastery of the craft that you highlight. Thanks so much for these videos! 🎃🎃
42:20 YEP Finally someone points it out! Nilah's embroidery is clearly a homage to Sari embroidery from South India specifically Tamil Nadu's Kanchipuram sari styles. It's just beautiful to see and such amazing representation considering Nilah literally means Moon in Tamil and is clearly a Tamil inspired Champion
This is the definition of an Image with a thousand words. Everything, the angle, the color, the lighting are all part of the message portrayed by the art. Even a slight adjustments to these elements will yield to a hugely different message. Just wow. This really made me appreciate the art of league more, not just appreciating by aesthetics.
I want to be an artist who makes beautiful splash art like these for games one day, so listening to you talk so much about it really gets me fired up! I could listen to you ramble about art for hours :D (and I do!)
something about this is such a good way to teach composition. and maybe that wasnt the intention, but the way you take each element one at the time, breaking down the composition, the color theory behind the splash art, all that gives even an experienced artist a lesson in composition and color theory. and i think thats beautiful, in a way.
Great video as always! Please make more of these, I love listening to you talk about art. I prefer this approach, where you tackle less pieces with more time for each in one video. I also really liked the mixture of technical analysis and storytelling.🎃
I love Blood Moon Evelynn’s splash art for the same reason as the Gangplank one here. Yeah it’s a first person perspective that shows your hands and does the Vladimir vein thing on her hands, but most viewers are too distracted by Evelynn’s beauty to notice her claws literally digging into your hand like a needle injection. On the left, she’s stroking her claws across your palm, revealing a blue glow to her nails, and only then are you hinted to look over to the right. You’re holding her hand, but her nails look a little shorter than the other, and oh wait…. What’s that faint glow coming from beneath your skin…? Such good storytelling ugh
Maaaan I never even noticed the shackled hands in Captain Gangplank's splashart. Art appreciation with Skyen is always such a treat. 🎃 I'm more of a fan of hearing you nerd out about texturing & rendering but honestly the narrative stuff is awesome too!! 🎃🎃
Man, your narration is simply amazing. The way you convey the scenes, the way you explain the artistic side, it's both comfortable to listen to and incredibly exciting. It would be incredible to listen to you narrate an audiobook or work as storyteller in some tabletop rpg game! Keep up the great work.
This is by far one of my favorite series, all the elements of his analyses are so interesting and I love hearing him explain his reasonings so eloquently ❤
As someone who isn’t a fan of League I still very much enjoy these videos and hearing you break down and describe things that I can’t place my finger on or didn’t realize at all. These were at a good length I think and I’d love to see more! 🎃
this is all so nice. it was really neat every time you zoomed really close in to explain texture or light. also every practical exercise you did with photoshop (tilting, witholding details, framing) was super useful.
I beg of thee, bless us with more of these incredible reviews. A longer video is certainly welcome, your analysis and voice work are something I cannot get enough of. 🎃
You’ve made me go from seeing some Splash Arts that I thought were just okay originally to a whole different light of understanding and nuance. I adore it. Please make more videos like this. ❤🎃
Please sir, can we have more? Seriously, we could listen to you talk about splash arts for hours, please feel free to do more cause we all know there's so many more you wanna talk about here. Also that little Heimerdinger performance was incredible! Anyways, Halloween never ends.🎃
I love hearing you nerd out about anything! It would be cool to hear you talk about the best splash arts/alternate narratives of each character, too. Geek your heart out 🎃
I really enjoy these art reviews. I would love to hear your thoughts on LoR art too; I feel like they went above and beyond on so many cards, and even some of the card animations (A Sol champ spell comes to mind). I also like it when you get into the weeds about the technical aspects of the art. 🎃
I'm very happy on how you explained Nilah's Splashart because when the first time i saw her splashart i automatically fell in love how the lighting, the texture of the fabric and the character herself, and especially what makes me love the splashart even more on how Alive it feels unlike any other splashart i came across because it feels like the way she pose so epically and the monster in the background fighting makes it very cinematic for just a simple picture, A very Fun analysis as Always Mr Skyen :D
It is great to hear you talk about the art both from a technical and narrative perspective, it really helps me understand what draws me to some art over others. I find it great to understand the choices artists made to create a pieces and how small details call really make a huge difference. It also makes me want to pick up my pencil and draw! 🎃
Love hearing you talk about art! It's almost a shame League has so many good splash arts that it's impossible to talk about every single one in-depth. Also, A+ music choices for each splash lol.
I could listen to this guy explaining why every single pixel of a piece of art is incredible for hours. I'm really amazed, as an artist myself even I didn't point out half of those things. Also, didn't know Fiddle was a she it's such a pleasant surprise
God, where were you when I was taking art appreciation and needed to describe paintings for a grade? This is a master class in picking out important details and understanding the process required to convey those details. I'm alright at it now, but this is so skillfully done, it would've helped a ton to have this example when I was still learning.
🎃 Would love to hear you talk more about art, it helps me notice things I never even thought about before. Personally I like a mixture of storytelling and art techniques, you're a very good storyteller (probably heard that before) and it is nice to hear you explain rendering, composition and stuff that truly makes the splashes interesting, for while I might see the things, I don't really /notice/ them.
You are truly wonderful. I love how well you analyze artwork and your perspectives. I adore the pieces of your personality that shine through. It is so much fun for you to take us on a journey through League splash arts. There are so many, and I love you highlighting them. Please give us more!
I love when you make those type of videos! :D It would be cool if you could make one about splash arts that you dislike for whatever reason (ofc excluding the outdated splash arts). I know that it may seem a bit rude towards the authors, but you already have a series where you pick your most and least favourite skins for each champion. I'd love to see a similar approach when it comes to splash arts :P It's up to you though. I love hearing you ramble about art so I'll stick around regardless 😅
These are amazing. Skyen has such a way with analyses that just captivates me! It's like listening to a lecture I enjoy. I find myself losing track of time and finding new meanings and ways too look at art. Please do more of these! I'd love to see more splash art analyses, or maybe even legends of runterra card art analyses!
🎃 I absolutetly adore this videos, inspire me to get better on my art and storytelling, sometimes i get overwelmed to tell a super long story but with this i can see you can tell so much with just one image Also, Thresh on the last one also seems like we (asuming we're a character like in the Gankplan splashart) tried to get to the battle against him, we got there late so we see Thresh wating for us so he can kill us, that art represent the aftermath of a boss battle that ended poorly for us
the way you go through every splash art is an art itself... it's like you really get it, everything I got from these pieces-- you already took the words from me, amazing video, like brain food to me.
I love High noon thresh, how its just him sitting and watching probably his handiwork because in the lantern it looks like that he may or may not have set something on fire, like a town and is taking a little sit after collecting souls.
25:25 I think watching your videos, especially these ones, is doubling my understand of art and composition and honing my eye for detail, because I also noticed the incredibly subtle ridges on her hand, and I mainly noticed the ever-so-slight fold on her wrist, before I got to this point! I thought about how it made it feel like she was actually putting some effort into that pull without sacrificing her smooth, pristine, sort of beauty and elegance. Like, I took 3 art classes, plus 1 drawing class and 1 photography class, in high school and learned maybe 1/6 of my general art knowledge there, if that. Some I've gotten from art posts online, but I've honestly learned the most from you and Drawfee!! So thank you so much for making such lovely videos!
please we NEED more of this! when you play league every splash is cropped for space so i have missed TONS of small things that add to the storytelling of the splashes . i just love nerding over your videos for the splashes and have learned a lot . thank you skyen
Honestly, i really really like the geeking out over technical artistical excecution, mostly when i sit down to contemplate some of the gorgeous art on LoR or league's splashes thats the aspect that often mesmrizes me the most, mostly out of sheer marvel at how someone is capable of puling that sort of stuff, GENIUS!! Keep going man, full support from all angles here!! 🎃
beautiful descriptions and vocabulary. 10/10 video on that alone 🎃 also yes more of everything. more talk on lines, composition, rendering, color, balance, scale, narrative. every skin description stayed its welcome. i felt like the script came naturally to you so if you talk about all that comes to mind the video would just end up working and end as a really polished enjoyable product. i can rewatch this so many times in the background and never get bored
I'd DIE for more nerding out about the texture and rendering. Your analysis videos really help me to see what I want to do with my own art, the ways I want to improve.
I love hearing Skyen pointing something and when I look at it, I notice something else. Like the textures on SG Fiddle’s face that also give a sense of scale and a sense of how decrepit and unstable her form is. Truely amazing ❤️🎃
OMG YES PLEASE MORE OF THIS - i truly love listening to you analyses and voice over it feels almost hypnotic it's fun storytelling and i also like the practicality of the rendering and brushstroke talk
As a visual artist I'd love to hear about your takes on the technicalities of the rendering and stuff. But as an aspiring narrator and novice DM, the narrative approach is just so inspiring. Some splasharts are technical masterpieces and others are all about the storytelling (while being amazing in the technical part as well), and so far I'd say you've found a really comfortable balance of both to analyze on a single video. Amazing work!! If I HAD to choose I'd say I want more of the narrative approach, but it's close. 🎃
This is what I love the most about these kinds of videos. The enthusiasm and celebration of incredibly GOOD ART. As an artist that is still working to get to this level, there is so much to enjoy and learn from these videos. Please do more. Perhaps look at splash arts done by other IPs? Fromsoft has some great splash arts.🎃
Super happy you decided to do another one of these art videos. These are just amazing windows into how you view art and its use from an narrative perspective and honestly I could listen to you go one about this kind of thing for hours on end with how well done each of these videos are. I hope you continue these kinds of videos.
Love the video and analysis! Here again to campaign for Totemic Maokai for "most beautiful splash arts video 3"!!! And you're objectively right about the shoulder strap!
![Building a better Janna || re-making a League of Legends champion [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/27wMorIpkVo/mqdefault.jpg)
The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/tbskyen11221
Hmmm... can you do 10 worst splash arts? (And not excluding first skins) 🎃
You don't make us feel bloated with info, yet the depth at which you delve and interpret the artist's intentions makes me BEG for another episode! 🎃
This is the same guy who bashes the skins (despite looking and being amazing) simply for the fact they don’t fit champions’ lore. It’s literally the point of skins to give ALTERNATIVE look or spin to a character - it doesn’t have to fit the champions’ lore or background to work, otherwise it would be really boring. Especially when skin lines have their own universes, so for example, where Aatrox is evil in the official universe, he could be good in other universe.
@@gandalfhan he doesn't bash skins for not fitting a champions lore he bashes them for not fitting the premise its meant to go for typically
@@gandalfhanhe doesn’t do that though. He bashes skins for not fitting the universe they’re set in or the theme they’re going for or not fitting with the character’s animations or just being poorly executed
@@elainasynranelt I’m talking about the skins that look amazing etc. not the bad ones since they do deserve criticism. Go into his other videos and he will literally criticise the skin for simply not fitting champions’ lore and call them bad lol
@@gandalfhan i have watched his other videos
If I were one of riot's artists I would be so honored to have my work seen and recognized in this way...I'm an illustrator so I know how much time and effort we put into composition, color theory and details that disappear in the eyes of the hasty viewer, so to have them analyzed in such a passionate way makes my little heart so so happy! I really hope that the artists see your videos :)
As a fellow illustrator, agreed!
was thinking the same thing
I wonder if these artist have imposter sydrome as well. Like at one point can't you really watch your piece and say: Fuck man i am so much better than the rest
@@simonzhang3DUsually these artists aren’t that arrogant since arrogance blinds your judgement and thus are less likely to get to a high level. You have to be humble and realize your flaws in order to get good.
@@Thesamurai1999 i wouldnt say arrogant just facts. Art to a certain level is like science. Many checkboxes you need to tick
Something I found particularly scary about gangplank’s splash art was how from a distance it looks like he’s focusing on the orange in his hand, but when you zoom in, you realize that he’s looking at you
I love that detail!
Also, Idk if I'm reading into it too much but the shaved part of the orange looks kind of like a skull
YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!
bruh you made me see it and now i can't unsee it
Same
I had to zoom in on it just to see that and about had a heartattack. Doesn't help that I'm actually seeing this for the first time and it is night and very much dark in my room. Wow is that an amazing detail.
Your Heimerdinger voice is uncannily good, wow. And it really helped sell the image even more. 🎃
I'd love to see texture breakdowns and nerding out too! Also, DEFINITELY Runeterra!
i literally had to fucking pause the video there. It shook me. I really thought he was the voice actor for him lol.
I am SO GLAD someone else noticed the Heimerdinger impression because that part was wonderful
Very fun to hear you ramble about beautiful art for almost an hour!
I'd love to hear more about this! 🎃
Also fun to hear that killer Heimer impression
It's my ASMR
SAME! These are so fascinating!
I desperately want more of this series
Your ability to make art analysis *fun" and so personally engaging is incredible; you pull the perfect adjectives for every context and subject so well that the script itself is poetry. It is so far removed from the painful forced depth I felt from high school that I can finally enjoy deep dives into illustrations again.
The light in these images are truly the stars of the show🎃
'imagines'???
@@hofkingpin3216 Yes, imagines of the light we could see if we went outside 💪🏼🤠
Imagine dragons 🎉
TF and Eve splash also reminds me of Ms. Mr. Smith, the spy couple movie who tries to kill each other and sparks again the "sexual tension" they had for one another.
To me that splash art shows more than tension, shows fun, they like that dynamic and they're going all out with it. I know Eve quite literally could feed herself with said tension, but you can see her smile looking at TF who looks serious towards her, but leans into her, leans into her dance. Also pretty sure Tobias is Bi, so, it's a possible outcome, we have no idea about the story of this skin line. And Tango is naturally hot ASF.
19:07 The short performance of Dragon Trainer Heimerdinger was on point and very cute. You nailed the character I was imagining and made my heart melt. ❤
And here's a small Jack-o'-lantern 🎃
I came to comments looking for this, because I was gonna say something if no one else did. I couldn’t tell if it was a character voiceline from the game or not!
I know right! I was flabbergasted in the most delighted way when I realized what was happening!
I subbed because of that
I whole heartedly agree, his impression was on point
Me: _furiously clicks on another top 10 when it shows up in feed_
Skyen: do we want more of these?
Me: YES. YES. A THOUSAND TIMES, YES.
I cannot stress enough how much I enjoy listening to your narrations and breakdowns of art pieces.
I’m an amateur artist at best, and watching these videos of your criticisms and compositional breakdowns not only gives me an idea of how certain aspects of art (especially light!) should be used, it also tends to get me in the mood to draw again.
So not only do I thank you for that, I appreciate you, and, if I have to, will get on my knees to shamelessly beg for more of these videos.
On Nilah I also want to appreciate the fine brush stokes in the background (most visible in the closeup of the orb) and detailed water dropplets on her skin. This is not just an action pose, this is the moment after she strikes, or perhaps even when she draws her weapon. It's not raining, the water of the environment was knocked up by something powerful and is showering down, and it appears to have been done by Nilah. That and the glow of her earrings, jewlery, and facial expression make it feel like I'm baring witness to this glorious figure in her complete element.
She just looks *SO* badass. She's an icon
With regards to the Captain Gangplank splash art, the perfect symmetry with the guns flanking either side and the stairs centred behind him gives off a royalty feeling, like the Royal Guard standing to the side of their King, which Gangplank in this splash is.
He is the King of Bilgewater, but instead of noble knights and guards, it’s cannons and shipwright. None stand in his way for he commands these guns, he commands this vessel, he commands these seas, he commands it all.
That is also wonderfully observed and stated. That part of the GP analysis conveyed the desperate nature of the situation for the captured person. "Only he has the power to act." Oh man that was so dope!
I must say that, out of all the music and dance styles that exists, Tango was such a perfect choice for Evelynn and TF.
Adding up to all the constant tension of "they are just waiting for the perfect moment. The window for the kill" if you watch two Tango dancers you can almost feel the same tension due to the way of how they move on each other. Let's add up how dance partners always look like both of them are in control on every situation or are fighting for it. But always in balance. (This does not only apply to Tango, but It's easy to see there) Slap "Por una cabeza" and boom, there you have it.
beautifully written & analysed!
on a much less prosaic level, i also appreciate how this extends a certain canon about Twisted Fate's 'dances with devils'!
From cheating Tahm Kench, to tangoing with Evelynn... which immortal manifestation of human weakness will he tangle with next, just to show those demons that humans can still have the upper hand?
Perfect choice but also the only posible choice
@@-.jai.- Why not Salsa or similars?
@@lyg483 cause they're dressed for it, although it could be milonga, but it woultn't be as sexy ;D
@@-.jai.- Hm yeah duh, what I meant is that they could have chosen any other dance style for this (and because of it, change their clothes duh) and miss all this marks
As someone who plays more LoR than LoL these days, I’d love to see you go over some of the card arts they’ve gotten. I think a lot of them are quite stunning, recent favorites being spirit blossom Kindred for being super pretty and base Seraphine for painting her in a new and more grounded light 🎃
The Heimerdinger splash made me tear up for some reason, it really conveys the paternal nurture and care so well. I really hope you continue this series, and I particularly love the narrative analysis, you have the perfect voice for it! 🎃🎃
🎃I think one of the more interesting things about the Gangplank splash is also *his* *eyes* ! When you first take a look at it, you either see one of two looks:
1) He's looking down AT the orange, in an almost darkly playful disregard of you
Or 2) He's looking AT YOU, like he's about to enjoy making your life a Living Nightmare and the orange is simply an example of what he's going to do to you!
And the longer you look at it, the more the looks flip.
(For me personally, it flips from him looking at the orange to you, back and forth, until all I see is him looking at us)
Oh man that first Elderwood Hecarim switch was great, I could see the beauty in the photoshopped version, maybe not the best but great, and THEN the animals came in, and a whole new dimension was added, great job of completely catching me off guard
Yeah, I never knew Hec was that big, but without the animals, he felt demonic.
🎃Tf and Evelyn are giving big "rival spies in a violence dance fight before a shoot out" energy. Love that for them. Ps. I prefer the narrative analysis
🎃
As a non-artist, hearing you geekout about the details of the splash art is wonderful. Every time you zoomed into the Nilah splash, I noticed more details about the water effects in the rendering which is just 😩👌 The additional story telling you add to each splash art is just delightful.
I would love for you to go over some of the LOR (and maybe now TFT!) specific art as well, but that might warrant being in a separate video from the league splashes? I'm unsure about the best approach for that from the eyes of THE ALGORITHM TM.
I’m an artist who followed TB Skyen during his Sonic Mania intro analysis, but while the most LoL thing I experienced since was Arcane, and have 0 interest to plau LoL. Analyzing good art is still welcoming.
I was wtching that section as I read this comment. I absolutely love how Skyen described that splash art
I don't know how easy they are to find, but Skyen streamed card reviews of every LoR set up to the first Bandle City expansion iirc.
honestly nilah in general is wonderfully designed. her splash and model are great, her voice kicks so much ass, and the story is a nice thematic inversion of the 'deal with the devil' trope that feels very different, while still being just as potentially dramatic and unnerving.
I could listen to you do things like this for probably every skin splash art. The good, the bad, everything in between. It inspires me to think about artwork of all kinds in different ways and try to notice things that maybe I wouldn't have otherwise. Hope you end up doing another 10.
Honestly could be really interesting to hear analysis of the less successful splashes and why they don't work
I think the best thing about Nilah’s splash art is also the action and movement in it, all the water flowing around her the water drops on her skin are very pretty to look at. One thing I think is also really well done is how the piece shows Nilah’s excitement by danger with the massive beast flying in the background crushing a ship in two is very interesting when compared to her smile and running almost care free like across the water in the middle of all the chaos.
I could talk or listen about League's lore and art for hours... They truly have some of the best artists in the world
Edit: 🎃🎃🎃
This is off to an amazing start. Just from Elderwood Hecarim alone-the music, the way you described him, and of course the art-it made me tear up in awe. I felt and saw myself in the scene, as if my room has vanished and I was in the woodland, reaching out to the imposing form of the forest guardian.
I know there's painfuly many to go through, but I hope you do one of these for most beautiful LoR card arts? I'm sure the community would provide great examples.
Oh nevermind, you mention that possibility in the outro.
I love the lingering! Especially the technical details cus it’s literally you narrating the image and that is storytelling in itself! Please more of these! :D 🎃
I agree with other comments that a legends of Runeterra version would be amazing. They have so much beautiful art too
gods the way you talk about art is incredible it’s so distant from the cold clinical analysis of art theory classes i’ve taken, it’s so full of love for artistry
Another thing Iove about Captain Gangplank's art is how your perspective of him peeling an orange changes when you realize what's about to happen. He's doing it to intimidate you. He stares at you while slowly peeling the orange and you're staring at the orange thinking
"Oh god that's about to be me."
And it makes the fact that the orange is so supremely juicy and leeking everywhere kind of graphic. You start thinking about it in the context of your own body. It's going to be messy. And you'll just lose all of your "juices" as you're hanging there. He's going to skin you alive.
Terrifying.
As an (game-)art- and design student I love love LOVE you interpreting these pictures. I'm honestly learning so much about composition, more than I learned at university. I need more of these videos, they are so inspiring ♥
I honestly didn't notice that each segment was longer! I think it was the perfect length, and yes whether it's you gushing over the textures or the narrative side of the skin - it's all interesting to hear! Please more of these >>🎃
A Legends of runterra version of this would be awesome! Keep up the great work!
Seconded, those art are amazing
agree, i would love to see that
You are 100% correct
YEAS, LOR is much better in this aspect than league
He would pretty much have to cover ALL the arts, since they're all god-tier lmfao
ITS ALSO STILL HALLOWEEN IN MY HEART!! But seriously I absolutely love these listening to these!! As an art major it’s super cool seeing things I’ve learned come up while also listening to the lore and narrative of the picture itself!! It was super fun with the little edits you did this time really showing the difference small details can make!! I would adore seeing more! 🎃
Havent finished the video yet, but man I love these so much, I see videos breaking down videos, songs and animations but you rarely see videos about just appreciating the intricacies of art pieces. As an artist seeing something like this is super inspiring.
You know, you only makes the TF and Evelyn scene sound even more romantic. In this moment that feels outside of time, they are completely captivated, entranced, with one another. In a twisted way, in that moment they are each other’s entire world. And love and hate share a common point: obsession.
I love these splash break downs, they literally open my eyes and make me realize things I can do too to enhance my own artworks! Thanks for all Skyen ^^
Yes pls do make more of these and i really like the nerdy technical fabric analysis u do. Makes me realize jow much work and just craftsmanship takes to make these.
Sry forgot the emote 🎃
I cannot describe my adoration for the High Noon Thresh splash art in words that’ll do it justice. I don’t know how to describe it but the way the background is designed with the dust storm in motion and it blowing Thresh’s head I can vividly HEAR the image with the sounds of blowing dust through desert shrubs and the crackling of both worn-cactus limbs and the fire in Thresh’s head. I can FEEL the heat radiating from it and FEEL the dusty air against my skin. It’s an almost comforting feeling as someone who’s lived in the deserts of Arizona his entire life this feeling is familiar to me. You can find old remains of long-dead creature in the desert, remains of coyotes or barn owls typically. You can find small fire pits legitimately in the middle of nowhere that still smell like burnt wood and have stained the dirt around it black. Everything in this image is real to me, even Thresh’s design I like to believe is a reference to an old urban legend out where I live of a spirit of an ever-burning man, believed to be a lingering spirit of a Native American who protects sacred grounds in the mountains. Supposedly a floating, burning corpse will appear if the right conditions are met. Not too well versed in the myth but either way this skin and the splash art truly give me chills. What a fantastic design🧡
plus the fact that the image is symmetrical, which, for me, is something aesthetically beautiful
Honestly im gonna start taking notes on these cuz i love the amount of details that you squeeze out of the splash arts and how much i can learn from them. How many decisions i make without being aware of them when i draw and how many i will have to change into doing them consciously to better myself as an artist.
Its mesmerizing to just sit and listen to you pointing out details in splash arts that i haven't noticed, makes me appriciate them more
Just stumbled across your channel from your linked shorts page and I can already say within the first 5 minutes I really can feel your passion for art in the way you talk. Love this!
🎃Please make more of these videos, it's really cool to see someone talk about all the details and the techniques used in these splashes that I've never noticed before. I have a whole new level of appreciation for splash art and the stories they tell, thanks to you talking about them
I really loved the Thresh section. The mix of narrative and nerding out was perfect imo 🎃
Wow man this is my first video of yours that i've viewed. Man, this was moving. Your voicework, and word choice, and analysis. I have been looking for a course on visual storytelling, and this video provided the kind of info i'm looking for. The descriptions of the courses I looked at so far didn't seem that they were going to give this kind of information. This was a wonderful experience, like as if spent an hour at the theater. I would watch another video like this.
Honestly, I love these videos. I'm norribly incompetent as an artist, but I love art analysis (given that my wife is a talented character artist, and I'm a huge fan of both her work and of character design in general). I *absolutely loved* your talk on High Noon Thresh, as my main interest is in capturing character and story. But I really like your noodly talk on the technical side of the art too; I'll never be able to replicate it, but I very much appreciate the kind of mastery of the craft that you highlight. Thanks so much for these videos! 🎃🎃
42:20 YEP Finally someone points it out! Nilah's embroidery is clearly a homage to Sari embroidery from South India specifically Tamil Nadu's Kanchipuram sari styles. It's just beautiful to see and such amazing representation considering Nilah literally means Moon in Tamil and is clearly a Tamil inspired Champion
Maybe I'm just basic, but goddamn Iron Inquisitor Kayle, Cursed Revenant Nocturne, and Black Scourge Singed is just so beautiful
oh my god yess, the kayle skin especially, its translation into the actual game is just perfect
This is the definition of an Image with a thousand words. Everything, the angle, the color, the lighting are all part of the message portrayed by the art. Even a slight adjustments to these elements will yield to a hugely different message. Just wow. This really made me appreciate the art of league more, not just appreciating by aesthetics.
I want to be an artist who makes beautiful splash art like these for games one day, so listening to you talk so much about it really gets me fired up! I could listen to you ramble about art for hours :D (and I do!)
something about this is such a good way to teach composition. and maybe that wasnt the intention, but the way you take each element one at the time, breaking down the composition, the color theory behind the splash art, all that gives even an experienced artist a lesson in composition and color theory. and i think thats beautiful, in a way.
Great video as always! Please make more of these, I love listening to you talk about art. I prefer this approach, where you tackle less pieces with more time for each in one video. I also really liked the mixture of technical analysis and storytelling.🎃
I love Blood Moon Evelynn’s splash art for the same reason as the Gangplank one here. Yeah it’s a first person perspective that shows your hands and does the Vladimir vein thing on her hands, but most viewers are too distracted by Evelynn’s beauty to notice her claws literally digging into your hand like a needle injection. On the left, she’s stroking her claws across your palm, revealing a blue glow to her nails, and only then are you hinted to look over to the right. You’re holding her hand, but her nails look a little shorter than the other, and oh wait…. What’s that faint glow coming from beneath your skin…? Such good storytelling ugh
Maaaan I never even noticed the shackled hands in Captain Gangplank's splashart. Art appreciation with Skyen is always such a treat. 🎃
I'm more of a fan of hearing you nerd out about texturing & rendering but honestly the narrative stuff is awesome too!! 🎃🎃
Man, your narration is simply amazing. The way you convey the scenes, the way you explain the artistic side, it's both comfortable to listen to and incredibly exciting.
It would be incredible to listen to you narrate an audiobook or work as storyteller in some tabletop rpg game!
Keep up the great work.
This is by far one of my favorite series, all the elements of his analyses are so interesting and I love hearing him explain his reasonings so eloquently ❤
As someone who isn’t a fan of League I still very much enjoy these videos and hearing you break down and describe things that I can’t place my finger on or didn’t realize at all. These were at a good length I think and I’d love to see more! 🎃
This has quickly become one of my very favourite series.
this is all so nice. it was really neat every time you zoomed really close in to explain texture or light. also every practical exercise you did with photoshop (tilting, witholding details, framing) was super useful.
I beg of thee, bless us with more of these incredible reviews. A longer video is certainly welcome, your analysis and voice work are something I cannot get enough of. 🎃
You’ve made me go from seeing some Splash Arts that I thought were just okay originally to a whole different light of understanding and nuance. I adore it. Please make more videos like this.
❤🎃
Please sir, can we have more? Seriously, we could listen to you talk about splash arts for hours, please feel free to do more cause we all know there's so many more you wanna talk about here.
Also that little Heimerdinger performance was incredible!
Anyways, Halloween never ends.🎃
I love hearing you nerd out about anything! It would be cool to hear you talk about the best splash arts/alternate narratives of each character, too. Geek your heart out 🎃
I really enjoy these art reviews. I would love to hear your thoughts on LoR art too; I feel like they went above and beyond on so many cards, and even some of the card animations (A Sol champ spell comes to mind). I also like it when you get into the weeds about the technical aspects of the art. 🎃
I'm very happy on how you explained Nilah's Splashart because when the first time i saw her splashart i automatically fell in love how the lighting, the texture of the fabric and the character herself, and especially what makes me love the splashart even more on how Alive it feels unlike any other splashart i came across because it feels like the way she pose so epically and the monster in the background fighting makes it very cinematic for just a simple picture, A very Fun analysis as Always Mr Skyen :D
I always am shocked by how detailed and insightful the analysise are!🎃
It is great to hear you talk about the art both from a technical and narrative perspective, it really helps me understand what draws me to some art over others. I find it great to understand the choices artists made to create a pieces and how small details call really make a huge difference. It also makes me want to pick up my pencil and draw! 🎃
Yes to more art analysis please! Also listening to you narrate the stories behind each piece of art is awesome every time!
🎃🎃🎃
Literally chills during the thresh analysis. I would want more like it.
Love hearing you talk about art! It's almost a shame League has so many good splash arts that it's impossible to talk about every single one in-depth. Also, A+ music choices for each splash lol.
Tbh just love watching people talk about the things they love, so these videos with you analysing splash arts and all are just really fun!
I could listen to this guy explaining why every single pixel of a piece of art is incredible for hours. I'm really amazed, as an artist myself even I didn't point out half of those things. Also, didn't know Fiddle was a she it's such a pleasant surprise
God, where were you when I was taking art appreciation and needed to describe paintings for a grade? This is a master class in picking out important details and understanding the process required to convey those details. I'm alright at it now, but this is so skillfully done, it would've helped a ton to have this example when I was still learning.
🎃
Would love to hear you talk more about art, it helps me notice things I never even thought about before.
Personally I like a mixture of storytelling and art techniques, you're a very good storyteller (probably heard that before) and it is nice to hear you explain rendering, composition and stuff that truly makes the splashes interesting, for while I might see the things, I don't really /notice/ them.
You are truly wonderful. I love how well you analyze artwork and your perspectives. I adore the pieces of your personality that shine through. It is so much fun for you to take us on a journey through League splash arts. There are so many, and I love you highlighting them. Please give us more!
I love when you make those type of videos! :D
It would be cool if you could make one about splash arts that you dislike for whatever reason (ofc excluding the outdated splash arts). I know that it may seem a bit rude towards the authors, but you already have a series where you pick your most and least favourite skins for each champion. I'd love to see a similar approach when it comes to splash arts :P
It's up to you though. I love hearing you ramble about art so I'll stick around regardless 😅
These are amazing. Skyen has such a way with analyses that just captivates me! It's like listening to a lecture I enjoy. I find myself losing track of time and finding new meanings and ways too look at art. Please do more of these! I'd love to see more splash art analyses, or maybe even legends of runterra card art analyses!
🎃 I absolutetly adore this videos, inspire me to get better on my art and storytelling, sometimes i get overwelmed to tell a super long story but with this i can see you can tell so much with just one image
Also, Thresh on the last one also seems like we (asuming we're a character like in the Gankplan splashart) tried to get to the battle against him, we got there late so we see Thresh wating for us so he can kill us, that art represent the aftermath of a boss battle that ended poorly for us
the way you go through every splash art is an art itself... it's like you really get it, everything I got from these pieces-- you already took the words from me, amazing video, like brain food to me.
🎃 I really like those video and I'd love to see more, on splash art or on LoR card
Man oh man that Heimerdinger bit was an absolute perfection!! The VA, music and everything.
2 words briar feet
I love High noon thresh, how its just him sitting and watching probably his handiwork because in the lantern it looks like that he may or may not have set something on fire, like a town and is taking a little sit after collecting souls.
this man has the most kissable way of speaking
25:25 I think watching your videos, especially these ones, is doubling my understand of art and composition and honing my eye for detail, because I also noticed the incredibly subtle ridges on her hand, and I mainly noticed the ever-so-slight fold on her wrist, before I got to this point!
I thought about how it made it feel like she was actually putting some effort into that pull without sacrificing her smooth, pristine, sort of beauty and elegance.
Like, I took 3 art classes, plus 1 drawing class and 1 photography class, in high school and learned maybe 1/6 of my general art knowledge there, if that. Some I've gotten from art posts online, but I've honestly learned the most from you and Drawfee!!
So thank you so much for making such lovely videos!
please we NEED more of this! when you play league every splash is cropped for space so i have missed TONS of small things that add to the storytelling of the splashes . i just love nerding over your videos for the splashes and have learned a lot . thank you skyen
Honestly, i really really like the geeking out over technical artistical excecution, mostly when i sit down to contemplate some of the gorgeous art on LoR or league's splashes thats the aspect that often mesmrizes me the most, mostly out of sheer marvel at how someone is capable of puling that sort of stuff, GENIUS!! Keep going man, full support from all angles here!! 🎃
beautiful descriptions and vocabulary. 10/10 video on that alone 🎃 also yes more of everything. more talk on lines, composition, rendering, color, balance, scale, narrative. every skin description stayed its welcome. i felt like the script came naturally to you so if you talk about all that comes to mind the video would just end up working and end as a really polished enjoyable product. i can rewatch this so many times in the background and never get bored
I always loved that tango tf @ evelyn splash art by gesture, now I know why I loved it even more with your explanation.
yes please to more texture talk! also the details on/of the clothes is amazing, that embroidery on Nilah's tunic is gorgeous!
I'd DIE for more nerding out about the texture and rendering. Your analysis videos really help me to see what I want to do with my own art, the ways I want to improve.
I love hearing Skyen pointing something and when I look at it, I notice something else. Like the textures on SG Fiddle’s face that also give a sense of scale and a sense of how decrepit and unstable her form is. Truely amazing ❤️🎃
heimerdingers hand under the cheek of the dragon, it almost falling asleep in his arms... it makes my heart melt, its so adorable
OMG YES PLEASE MORE OF THIS - i truly love listening to you analyses and voice over it feels almost hypnotic it's fun storytelling and i also like the practicality of the rendering and brushstroke talk
As a visual artist I'd love to hear about your takes on the technicalities of the rendering and stuff. But as an aspiring narrator and novice DM, the narrative approach is just so inspiring. Some splasharts are technical masterpieces and others are all about the storytelling (while being amazing in the technical part as well), and so far I'd say you've found a really comfortable balance of both to analyze on a single video. Amazing work!!
If I HAD to choose I'd say I want more of the narrative approach, but it's close. 🎃
This is what I love the most about these kinds of videos. The enthusiasm and celebration of incredibly GOOD ART. As an artist that is still working to get to this level, there is so much to enjoy and learn from these videos. Please do more.
Perhaps look at splash arts done by other IPs? Fromsoft has some great splash arts.🎃
I love how he destilates the essence of the splasharts with the commentary, especially the thresh one
Super happy you decided to do another one of these art videos. These are just amazing windows into how you view art and its use from an narrative perspective and honestly I could listen to you go one about this kind of thing for hours on end with how well done each of these videos are. I hope you continue these kinds of videos.
Love the video and analysis!
Here again to campaign for Totemic Maokai for "most beautiful splash arts video 3"!!!
And you're objectively right about the shoulder strap!
I love watching this kind of stuff. It gives me a lot of appreciation to the splash art as well to the artist.